Devices used for incontinent male patients are known. One such device is a catheter wherein a tube is inserted into the penis so that urine is passed through the tube and into a collection device. The known catheter is very painful, particularly if the patient is incontinent for a substantial period of time. For example, a patient with a catheter may suffer substantial pain from bladder spasms and cramps which cannot be corrected by the use of prescription drugs.
Devices which attach to the exterior of the penis are also known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,511,241 (Lee); 3,742,953 (Lee); 3,749,096 (Donaldson); 3,835,857 (Rogers, III et al.); 3,916,902 (Lineberger); and 3,999,550 (Martin) show incontinence devices for male patients wherein a bag encircles the penis and wherein one end of the bag is connected to a tube for disposal of the urine. Each of these devices requires a clumsy mechanism, usually a collar or cuff, for sealing the bag to the penis and several of them require truss-like arrangements for supporting the bags. These devices are all quite awkard to use and are not useful for certain types of patients. For example, an extremely obese patient may have great difficulty in using such a device because the lower abdomen is so large that it interferes with the bulky prior art devices. Clearly, the use of a truss-like arrangement to secure the bag is extremely impractical with this type of patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,979 (Cooney, et al.) shows a urine collector for women. This is simply a funnel-shaped apparatus which is secured over the urethral orifice to direct the urine to a discharge tube.
British Patent No. 667,012 (J. D. Franklin & Sons, Ltd.) shows a device for a male patient wherein a penis-receiving member is attached to a receiver for carrying the urine to a bowl. This device must be secured to the patient by straps similar to a truss.